The Second Mountain

How People Move from the Prison of Self to the Joy of Commitment

De: David Brooks

Narrado por: Arthur Morey

Duración: 12 h y 58 m

Resumen del Editor

Number-one New York Times best seller

Everybody tells you to live for a cause larger than yourself, but how exactly do you do it? The best-selling author of The Road to Character explores what it takes to lead a meaningful life in a self-centered world.

Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy - who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape. They get out of school, they start a career, and they begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view...unsatisfying. They realize: This wasn’t my mountain after all. There’s another, bigger mountain out there that is actually my mountain. And so they embark on a new journey.

On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They surrender to a life of commitment.

In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose.

In short, this audiobook is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. But it’s also a provocative social commentary. We live in a society, Brooks argues, that celebrates freedom, that tells us to be true to ourselves, at the expense of surrendering to a cause, rooting ourselves in a neighborhood, binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. We have taken individualism to the extreme - and in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks reveals what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.

©2019 David Brooks (P)2019 Random House Audio

I had to force myself to get through it.

I have read almost all of David Brooks' books enthusiastically. This one was rough, as it is the product of his midlife crisis, The book tries to find meaning in life where sometimes there just is none. Your marriage failed you, your party failed you and there is less ahead than behind. He's just looking for meaning in something new, This all leads to what feels like a disjointed book with a forced overarching theme that falls flat. He should stick to social commentary and political analysis rather than venturing into introspection and self-improvement.

An Inspiring Read

Amazing insight into the human condition and our American society. I highly recommend this book to anyone is on the quest to life a happier more satisfying life.

Everyone should hear/read this book!

While I don't necessarily agree with all of his ideas, I think he makes really good points that will make you open your mind to possibilities to enjoying a more fulfilling life.

great book

loved it so much. I have been staring at the second for so long. now I know why

An Intelligent Perspective

I’ve listened to Bowling Alone (BA) by Robert Putnam - and by the way, the narrator is the same, which made this even better. Imagine someone taking all of the data from BA and then revealing where it comes from... on a personal level. That’s The Second Mountain, in one aspect. But, there’s so much more to this book. It answers many questions as to why western culture is going in the wrong direction.

A new way to see life!

Listened to it with joy. So many new insights and new ways to see life. I will read it again many more times because the teachings are very valuable. Ready to leave the valley and start my new adventure in the second mountain!!!

very timely treatment of what is needed in persons

enjoyed the personal parts more than the results of piles of paper to be collated for this book, even though the authors he cited are favorites of mine

A bit wordy, but worth it .

The first few Chapters and the last one are really brilliant. It's easy to get lost in the weeds of the middle bit.

Insightful, relatable, laced with religiosity

The book introduces and expands on the first and second mountain concepts – nice work – but Brooks is, to a fault, mesmerized by his own religious awareness/awakening.

Truths about societal failure from David Brooks

This book should be essential reading for every American. Politics is never mentioned but it exposes the US President and all the factions he claims to espouse as the scourges that they truly are. However, the style is sermonistic, so it is hard going. And it must be admitted that the hypocrites and misinformed zealots who make up too much of the US electorate would be un- likely to recognize themselves, even if their education is sufficient to read it.